Within hours of losing their Puce Road home to an explosion and fire Sunday, support was pouring in for the Goulet family.

“Within hours of everything happening there were people calling and dropping stuff off and then again this morning and all during the day. Lots of hugs,” 27-year-old Kristen Goulet said Monday of the support the family is receiving.

Goulet, who is pregnant, her husband Jack and their three boys, ages six, five and two, lost everything in Sunday’s fire, which destroyed their Lakeshore home while they were at the Windsor Aquatic Centre.

“We are so thankful for the outpouring from our community, from everything that’s been donated to us. We are thankful that we’re here. Because at the end of the day that’s what’s important,” she said.

Clothes, books, puzzles, stuffed animals, cookies and lasagna are among the long list of things that have been dropped off. People who don’t even know the family are helping, she said. The house was insured and the family is staying with her mother but it is devastating emotionally, she said.

Kristen said she hasn’t slept much and is trying not to get stressed out.

“It’s devastating to see your house like that. There’s absolutely nothing, nothing left.”

A friend had called the aquatic centre about the fire and the family was paged to go to the front desk. They rushed home but the fire had moved quickly through their home where they had lived for about two years. Kristen said she doesn’t know the cause.

Fire investigators began combing through the burned out shell the home Monday trying to determine what caused it to explode.

Firefighters were called to 189 Puce Rd. after neighbours heard an explosion around 11 am. Sunday. The fire tore through the home in minutes.

“The house is pretty well destroyed from fire,” Lakeshore fire department Chief Don Williamson said at the scene Monday. “There was an explosion out the back of the house yesterday, heavy fire conditions, and it just consumed the house very quickly.”

Investigators haven’t released a damage estimate.

Jack and Kristen Goulet and three boys, Tanner, 6, Travis, 5, and Trent, 2. Their Lakeshore, Ont., house was destroyed by fire on Feb. 16, 2014. (Handout)

Police evacuated the surrounding homes, and Puce Road north of County Road 22 was blocked by emergency vehicles until firefighters could contain the blaze.

“The first arriving firefighters saw the entire back of the house was involved with fire,” said Williamson. “By the time crews got here – we’re not that far, just around the corner – the entire house was pretty well involved with fire. Thank goodness nobody was home.”

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, Union Gas and the fire department were all on the property Monday.

Provincial police said initial evidence suggested the fire started in the kitchen, where there was a gas stove. Investigators haven’t said what caused the explosion, but they appeared to spend a great deal of time Monday focused on the house’s natural gas meter.

“Obviously we have to investigate all possible causes,” said Williamson. “So we’re looking at everything at this point to see what we can eliminate.”

A fire marshal investigator took a ride in a fire truck aerial bucket to get pictures and a bird’s eye view of the house’s layout.

“At this phase of the investigation we’re just documenting what we have after the fire conditions, then from there we’ll strategize how we’re going to do our investigation,” he said.

Kristen Goulet’s cousin Brianne Dufour is collecting clothing for the three boys and their parents. Anyone who wants to donate clothes, sizes seven, six and toddler-sized two-three, can email her at briannedufour@gmail.com.

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, to assist Lakeshore Fire Department and the Ontario Provincial Police in the investigation in the cause of a weekend house explosion at 189 Puce Rd. in Lakeshore, Ontario. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, to assist Lakeshore Fire Department and the Ontario Provincial Police in the investigation in the cause of a weekend house explosion on Puce Road in Lakeshore, Ontario. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, to assist Lakeshore Fire Department and the Ontario Provincial Police in the investigation in the cause of a weekend house explosion at 189 Puce Rd. in Lakeshore, Ontario. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)

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